Intra Arterial Chemotherapy

Intra-arterial chemotherapy is a method where the chemotherapy drugs are supplied directly into the artery so as to target the tumor. Here in this method dye is used to mark the blood vessels before x-ray and this technique is referred to as angiography. In this method there are two different techniques to administer the chemotherapy drugs:

Temporary external catheter - in this method a catheter is implanted in such a way that the chemotherapy drug is supplied to that particular artery where the tumor is located, the catheter is later removed after the chemotherapy drug is administered but then a word of caution is that you need to check for any signs of bleeding later on or for any other such symptoms.

Implanted pump - as the name suggests a pump through surgical method is implanted in the veins of the subcutaneous tissues. This pump is however removed after the entire chemotherapy cycle. This method of administering chemotherapy drugs is usually used for patients who are suffering from cancers of the limb sarcoma, metastasized colon which has spread to the liver, pancreas, head and neck; it is also used to treat gastric cancer and many other types of cancers. In this mode of treatment the chemotherapy drug and the toxicity of the drug is restricted to the area where it is affected by cancer and the area that surrounds the tumor and the rest of the body is saved from the toxicity of the drug which would otherwise pass through the body via blood and there would be very bad side effects.

What are the benefits and side effects related to intra-arterial chemotherapy?

This mode of treatment may state that there are no side effects but then in all types of chemotherapy treatment the drug eventually enters the body and causes the same type of side effects that are associated with other modes of chemotherapy treatment. Here though the side effects are seen more in the area of drug administration than other parts, it has shown to cause inflammation of the intestine, gallbladder and ulcers of the stomach etc. it is also known that in this mode of treatment there are cases of liver failure where patients are suffering from liver cancer who are already suffering from advanced cirrhosis.

What is the procedure to perform this type of chemotherapy?

Along with the help of an interventional radiologist the oncologist firstly, determines as what is the dosage of drug that needs to be administered and for how long should the treatment cycle continue for. This method of administering the chemotherapy medication is done with the help of a fluoroscopy. The drug is administered after the hepatic artery as well as the sub arteries are identified and it takes nearly 2 hours before the entire procedure is completed. In this mode of treatment the patient is hospitalized so that immediate action is taken in case of any complications. Side effects like fever; abdominal pains etc. are the most common complaints but then in case if there is severe abdominal pain, vomiting then it needs to be taken care.